What a season it has been in the NFL this year, with unexpected twists and turns every week. But that isn’t necessarily a bad thing for the Carolina Panthers.
The Panthers find themselves in unique territory in the final two weeks of the season with two former quarterbacks standing between them and playoff dreams. This is something that has never before happened in the NFL and does a lot to show just how tumultuous the organization has been in recent years.
But how can the Panthers hope to compete against Sam Darnold and the Seattle Seahawks in Week 17?
Carolina Panthers must somehow generate consistent pressure on Sam Darnold in Week 17
In the Seahawks’ only three losses this year, two distinct trends emerged. Darnold was forced to make the final play with the ball in his hands, and there was no effective run game.
Darnold has more than proved over the last two seasons that he is a starter in this league. Still, the point also stands that the quarterback is prone to making mistakes when too much responsibility is put on his shoulders.
The four-interception outing against the Los Angeles Rams and the late pick against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are examples of this. But even so, all of those losses were incredibly close and could have gone either way, with margins of only two, three, or four points.
The one saving grace that kept all of those games close was the play of Jaxson Smith-Njigba, who has come on as the top wideout in the league.
Carolina’s blueprint for beating this Seahawks team is simple. Pressure Darnold into bad decisions and take away his best target. The execution of that is where the problems begin. The Panthers have not exactly been great at pressuring quarterbacks this season, and no one has cracked the code on Smith-Njigba yet.
Nic Scourton is the one player who could change that. The rookie has started to blossom late in the season and has become a real difference-maker on a line that has lost most of its initial punch due to injury.
If Scourton can continue to improve this next week and get after Darnold, it will take a lot of pressure off of a secondary that has been a mixed bag. It may also be enough to swing this game in the Panthers’ favor.
This is, however, a tall task against a team that has given up only 22 sacks. But if the Panthers want to make any noise in the postseason, they have to prove that they can compete with the best the league has to offer. And quite possibly go through Seattle if they make it to the second round.
The Panthers have their future right in front of them. All that is left is to capitalize on it.